哈博罗内 (Hā bó luó nèi) — Gaborone (capital of Botswana)

Definition

noun
Gaborone (capital of Botswana)

Examples

  • 哈博罗内。
    Wǒ qù guò Hā bó luó nèi.
    I have been to Gaborone.
  • 哈博罗内。
    Hā bó luó nèi Shì bó cí wǎ nà de shǒu dū.
    Gaborone is the capital of Botswana.
  • 哈博罗内。
    Wǒ tīng shuō Hā bó luó nèi hěn piào liang.
    I heard Gaborone is very beautiful.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

哈hā
博bó
罗luó
内nèi

哈博罗内 transliterates Gaborone; its characters carry no meaning of their own here.

Sound-only characters

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
合
合hé哈hā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

哈 uses 口 (mouth) to show a mouth-related idea, and 合 as a sound part. The shape of 合 may look like two open mouths, but that is likely by chance.

Open 哈 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
十十shíten
Sound part声符shēngfú
尃
尃fū博
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from combining 十 (ten) with 尃; 尃 gives the sound.

Open 博 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 羅; 罗 is its simplified writing.

  • 网网wǎngnet
  • 維維wéibird (tied with string)

The traditional form 羅 combines 网 (net) with 維 (a bird tied with string) to show a net for catching birds; the simplified 罗 is a later abbreviation.

Open 罗 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 入入rùto enter
  • 冂冂jiōnghouse

The shape shows 入 entering into 冂, a house, so it pictures bringing something indoors, giving the sense inside.

Open 内 →

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